Emptiness Unraveled
by Gwynevere Whisper
Summary: Ages pass, children are born. One from ashes, another walks with criminals, the next holds her head high with royalty, and the last smiles at the normalcy surrounding her. Each possess a power that could either destroy the world entirely or save it from the soon to be rising threat. It's not so simple though, as they have to battle their own demons before they can battle Remnant's.
1. Lost

AN: So... it's been awhile. A very long while. And I promised I'd have something earlier but that didn't really work out. BUT I'VE FINALLY DELIVERED! The new and improved me and my writing. I hope you enjoy, and once again, sorry for my long absence. Please read and review if you have any problems or stuff, constructive criticism is welcome. I'll try to have a steady update schedule (although the time between updates will be long, at least it might be steady).

 _ **Prologue 1.1 - Lost**_

 **Southern Coast, Anima**

 **1400, 97 AW**

 **3** **rd** **Month of Fall**

 _She never would have thought things would turn out this way, with the curved blade of Remnant's most powerful warrior shoved through her mother's abdomen. A slick red, first smoothened, then left bubbling on the silver-blue sheen of their weapon from the heat._

 _She never would have thought that the warm heat her mother always gave off could feel so thermal and feral; an all-consuming blaze left in her wake to destroy everything that dare hurt her. The sounds of crackling wood and the smell of smoke stimulated all of her senses and left her gasping on her knees._

 _She never would have thought she'd have to witness such violence so soon, especially geared towards her mother._

 _When Scarlet got home from her hunt to see her mother, she never would have expected to see the house ablaze. She never would have expected to find her mother pinned to the wall with blood dripping onto the charred floors. She never would have expected the fires that always protected her to end up consuming the only person she ever knew and loved._

 _When a flash of silver erupted from the red cloaked woman's eyes and left her head reeling. When her mother's body fell limp and the arm that haunted her disappeared. And so when liquid gold seemed to seep out of Cinder and towards Scarlet, all she could do with all her training was cry._

 _Cry towards the murderer standing before here looking towards her with widened eyes. Cry towards the woman laying in a pool of her own blood. Cry towards herself for the pain and power coursing through her veins and melding itself with her aura. Cry towards the heavens for how unfair things were. Cry towards the gods to reverse events so that maybe she could arrive a few minutes earlier._

 _ **And when she was done crying, her slumped over body fell to the ground. Limp, just like her mother's…**_

 _ **One Year Later**_

Fire.

That was all everyone could see. A blazing, uncontrollable light of reds, oranges, whites, and blues. People scattered in every direction, disordered and in search of hope, but it was pointless, they had heard the rumours. A fire that consumes everything and burns its own ashes until there is nothing left except dunes of greyed sand that can be seen from miles away.

All of it came centered around one thing, one person, one _young woman._ Destruction flocked to her like how the Grimm hunted for negativity. For all the people knew in their short time of meeting her, that is what she was. Grimm. Darkness incarnate, come to them to feast on their flesh no matter how much they had gifted to the beasts in the past.

Nobody was safe from her gaze. She could melt you from the inside-out just by staring into your soul with her amber and verdant eyes surrounded by a white and red mask of a monster from legends and heroes.

The scarred woman spared no one, and so all they could do was run. But a few chose differently. They chose to stay, to stay and slay the beast that dare terrorize their village. But all of them were unorganized fools. Never charging at once and only using stones or left behind hand-me-downs to duel her. Their skin boiled and their bodies slowly turned to ash when her blade slipped through them.

The air snapped and fizzed around her as the conjured fires burned the oxygen from the surroundings within seconds. Blue licked and danced around her similarly coloured aura and singed the edges of her clothes.

Screams of women and children alike filled the air and mixed with the cries echoing from the masked being. Strangled howls ripped out of the monster, its wings of fire spewing from their back. Salted tears evaporated into nothingness before they could even leave her eyes, their stale scent being overshadowed by the smells of scorched flesh and pestilence.

Charred frames of houses barely stood as the fires continued to rage throughout the village. Empty shells trying to fill an emptier void. Possessions and riches succumbed to ash, leaving the already abandoned people with nothing but the dark mercy of the beast before them.

Screams turned to coughs and cries as the stench of melting flesh entered the nostrils of strangers and family members alike. The winged death showed no bias. Fauna like her burned, and their ashes scattered just like the human's were; finally in death, they could peacefully be together.

Colorless and burned out embers flitted around the floor and to the sky; absolute chaos burned around what was left of the village until one, final scream pierced the air. And then: silence.

Utter nothingness with a background of reds, blues, and greys.

Cooled cinders stuck to the monster's skin, a smoky black settling and forming to create an image of a demon summoned from the depths of Nebris. They coated the sides of its mouth and its tongue, slipping down its throat and cementing with its saliva. Dry coughs spit out of the fiery angel, blackened and wet ash exporiated onto the ground. Blue turned to red and red to nothingness as the fires burned away any oxygen left around it.

 _And with nothing to breath, the angel of chaos dropped to the ground in a heap of ash, darkened flesh, and tears._

 _ **Nine Years Prior**_

 _Salted tears slid down the young girl's face. Her eyes were closed, eyelids shielding her warm amber and forest green eyes from the pain of the alkaline waters falling down her cheeks and dripping onto the wooden flooring. Fresh blood—the same colour as her namesake—flowed down her calf and soaked inter her socks, a scarlet stain forming in the white cloth. A dreadful cry split the peaceful silence of the cottage._

" _Mom!" Scarlet sobbed out. Her caracal ears twitched and twisted to face the outside sides as she continued to wail. It was only a matter of time before her mother came from her room with a drowsy look on her face and disheveled hair._

" _Yes baby?" Those nurturing words spoken in that familiar raspy voice were all that the young girl needed to begin calming down. The waterfalls streaming from her eyes slowed but still continued while she held her hand to her thigh. Quivering lips and one tentative look was all it took for her mother to hold her in a tight, loving embrace._

 _No more than three seconds later the daughter's cries ignited anew, fresh tears leaking out of her eyes and settling onto Cinder's night shirt._

" _Mama!" She cried into her mother's gown, shaking and sobbing while Cinder gently rubbed her back and made_ shushing _sounds into her ear. Slowly but surely Scarlet's shaking turned to rustling and slow rocking back and forth._

" _What's wrong baby?" Cinder's warm amber eyes gazed worryingly into her daughters green and amber ones. Red and puffy eyed, Scarlet slowly separated from Cinder's body and looked down towards her thigh. Crimson liquid slowly seeped out from between her fingers and slid down her leg. A small groan slipped out from between her closed lips as she quickly covered it back up, spreading a bit across her skin._

" _It hurts mama… make it stop," Scarlet whined out as her eyes slowly began to leak again, "make it stop mama!"_

" _It's okay honey, just let me see it and I'll make it all better," Cinder gently said as she shushed her, calming her daughter's peril and slowly removing her hand from her thigh. Scarlet whined out as her mother poked and prodded at the gash in her leg. Blood oozed and fell out of it, slick and sticky all at the same time._

" _See? It's just a scratch… close your eyes and I'll make everything better." With complete trust in the dark haired woman above her, Scarlet closed her eyes and when she opened them again there wasn't a single scratch on her._

" _Wh-where'd it go?" Curious eyes looked expectantly up at Cinder. Nothing would ever take her wonder away about the things her mother could do. Miraculous healing, lighting a fire without anything for it to burn on, bringing thunderstorms that could blow the monsters away. Anything and everything she could think of, Cinder could do it._

" _It went somewhere far, far away. You want to know why?"_

" _Yes yes yes!"_

" _ **Because I'll never let anything hurt you…"**_ _**she muttered out, even though she knew she couldn't protect Scarlet forever. No one could, only she could protect herself.**_

The monster awoke with tears falling out of their eyes, solidifying within the ash and leaving as if they hadn't been there.

"I thought you said you'd never let anything hurt me…?" It didn't even realize it was saying something. Words were just falling out of their mouth, tumbling off of their lips and quivering in the breeze of ash and smoke. Its ash caked skin rippled and pulsed as it shifted positions. Arms and legs stiff with misuse and tiredness. The grey ashfall continued relentlessly, a blizzard of unnatural disaster.

"Why would you lie to me like that…?" Nothing could have prepared it for the events that had transpired. Nothing could have prepared it for losing its mother. Nothing could have prepared her for the transition of human to monster; all because of one simple thing that happened. Nothing could have prepared her for being on her own in this world of 'kill or be killed', nothing except for her mother.

A barely clenched fist slapped against the ground, ash puffing up and into her face. Violent coughs ripped out of her lungs, more of it fell from her mouth and onto the ground; saliva and blood turned it into a muddy and murky substance. And even through all of that, no voice came to answer her questions. Proof, to her, that the gods had abandoned her.

"Water… I need water." Survivability was all that fueled her at that moment. Her throat creaked and groaned as she got herself up onto her feet, a sound too similar to her mother's; a feeling all too familiar hit her in the chest. Salted water slid out of her tear ducts and dried up in the soot pressed against her skin.

Her legs shook and rattled while her muscles tried in vain to push themselves towards a limit that wasn't humanly possible. Animalistic instincts pushed her forward, a desperate search for food, water, and shelter so that she could make it to the next day. The ears atop her head twitched and swiveled with the meager amounts of energy they had left, in search of danger. She already knew though, nothing was out there.

A landscape of barren ash and indistinguishable scraps of houses that once held people. Families might've gathered there in the Winters for warmth. Farms may have been started in the Spring. Playgrounds and daycares were probably built in the Summer. Children played and jumped in the leaves their parents had raked up in the Fall.

She stumbled through it all, raspy breathes tore her throat to shreds while her aura was too busy keeping her legs moving. Eventually the ash thinned to a light drizzle, being carried in the wind and to the trees. Fallen leaves of beautiful colours dulled with the thin layer of gray that settled top of them.

As she broke through the treeline, her ears flicked forward and the sound of water hit her like a truck. There the river lay, swimming in soot. With the last reserves of strength she had, her mind _pushed_ and the liquid parted from the solid. Stomach to the ground and face in the water, she practically inhaled it.

 _And when she was done, her eyes hit the reflection and all that stared back at her was a mask of a monster._


	2. Mother's Day

AN: Hey heyyyy~... late again... like usual. Y'all know me. Anyways I finally got this chapter finished after a bunch of contemplation on what to do (the story is now from one POV instead of two). So here it is! Enjoy, review, do what y'all please!

Come join my discord, the invite code is 9TWJ5kr : I give updates on how the progress is going and maybe I'll even give some sneak peeks!

And a little reference to how the chapter was going to go before this. A character in this chapters says "Please, you couldn't even afford a run down motel!" which refers to how the chapter was going to go. It was originally set in Kuchinashi and it was between where the prologue and this chapter are taking place.

P.S. I thought I'd label the beginning intro bit for those who don't understand it

City/Location, Continent

Time (Military format along with no semicolon), Year (AW = after war)

Month

 _Prologue 1.2 - Mother's Day_

 **Mistral, Anima**

 **1900, 98 AW**

 **Near the End of the 3** **rd** **Month of Fall**

Mistral, the bustling city of culture and art. A constant stream of flying ships docking and leaving in both the lower and higher rings. Always new people coming and going to explore the city and see its sights. Scarlet had seen it a few times before though. Once with her mother… and… the next time without her. And so, she had no business with the many vendors trying to catch her attention to sell 'the next big thing.' Or anything they thought would be usable and viable to someone wearing her kind of attire.

She made her way through the crowd, sometimes smoothly and other times having to push the slow moving tourists out of her way. The meager amount of armour sitting on her shoulders and hips didn't help her cause as they thudded against unsuspecting passersby.

The quick moments blended together as she made her way through the upper district and to her goal, they blended enough so that she almost didn't notice when she arrived. A light smile lit up upon her face as she read the colourful sign sitting above the door: ' _The Bouquet's Boutique._ ' Flowers and seeds along with boar and other woodland creatures filled the empty spaces, including a bird feeder and nest built into the large, wooden sign.

" _Tring,"_ the tiny bell set above the door to signal a customer entering or exiting rang out as she pushed it open and coughed at the sudden influx of scents. Many growing and grown plants and flowers adorned the numerous desks lined up like a library of beauty and colour.

"Ah, sorry we're not quite ready to open yet! Would you mind waiting there?" A small voice shouted out from around the corner and up the stairs, a few moments later a comfortably dressed woman came down the stairs with another one wearing a flower crown leading the way.

"You know, Jasmine, it's rude to turn away a regular like that, especially when it's past opening time," it was a jest on Scarlet's part, but nonetheless the flower crowned girl looked surprised at her presence, causing lavender shaded eyes to widen.

"Oh my god! Scarlet, why didn't you tell me it was you?" She quickly fussed about before rushing up and almost going in for a hug, but hesitated and decided otherwise, shook Scarlet's hand, "I would've just told you to browse around if I knew it was you."

She was obviously distraught at the fact that she had almost turned down a potential customer, "so you're playing favourites now? I'm sure the other regulars wouldn't like that one bit," Her smile grew bigger as she watched the forest green haired girl's eyes widen before she turned around and stomped over to the cash register.

"You're mean, you know that!" Jasmine began glowering as she counted the money inside of it and placed it back in their respective places. She was obviously just looking for something to distract her from her own embarrassment but Scarlet wasn't going to say anything about that; nor was she going to say anything about the confused looking woman who stood idly by and watched the encounter as it played out.

Scarlet wandered around the aisles, her boots picking up the stray clumps of dirt and transporting them around the wooden flooring. A burst of red caught her eye before she suddenly stopped and turned to look down at the small bush that was growing. Many roses sat on its branches and thorns, finally reaching their full bloom of the fall before quickly retreating until spring.

A sad look crossed her face and her eyes dulled out as she stared into space, but as quickly as it came, it was gone and she was staring at the new person. Neither said anything, though, as she continued to browse through the many pottery designs the small flower shop had come up with. Gentle fingers rubbed against their smooth, glazed exterior before moving onto the many coloured petals that they held. Soft like skin and just as fragile, she was sure not to damage them before moving onto the next species.

There was a comfortable silence standing in the air as Jasmine and Scarlet both went about their business before it was interrupted by the woman wearing white, "so… who're you? I've never seen you around but Jas said you're a regular?"

Scarlet took her time to answer, moving from each flower to the next and examining each before finally looking up towards the woman, "I'm just a regular. Nothing else to say about it."

Scarlet slowly continued her search through the columns of tables, delicately rubbing the petals, leaves, and stems with a concentrated look on her face. "When will Dahlia be back, Jasmine, I'm… kind of in a hurry to be going. I'm already behind schedule as is."

Jasmine's head whipped up from where it was laying on the table, "huh? Oh! She should be back any minute now, she went out earlier to go and get it."

Scarlet studied the green haired woman's face for a few moments, openly gazing towards the large pink mark maring her otherwise blemish free features. Quickly though, she hung her head a bit before going back to her small routine, all the while the other woman kept looking at her and trying to strike up a conversation; though Scarlet would just keep waiting and answering a few moments later. Mostly, the older and more refined woman didn't even see her, just another scent with all the others. Eventually she just stopped responding altogether in lue of concentrating even harder on poking and prodding at the plants.

It wasn't before long that the bell rang for the second time that day and an older version of Jasmine walked in. That was also when Scarlet was delicately holding one of the flowers in her hands before it caught fire at her lapse of concentration and quickly turned to ash. Quickly, nothing remained of it except a pot full of fertile soil and ash, ready to begin nourishing its next occupant.

The newcomer stared at Scarlet for a moment before heaving a sigh, "really Scarlet? You're going to run me out of business at this rate…"

She stood gaping at the woman before quickly closing her mouth and looking down at the ash cupped in her hands, "sorry Dahlia… I'll pay for it..."

Before she could continue the woman interrupted her by laughing and sputtering, "girl! We both know you couldn't afford to even look at it. Don't bother, I don't mind anyways."

A long and relatively uncomfortable silence settled over the room as Scarlet stared down at her hands with sad eyes and the older woman looked at her. She suspired again while Scarlet began to drift off into her own head and suddenly began the conversation anew.

"I got it, by the way, darling…" she held up a brown, clay pot with a budding flower in it.

Scarlet's long strides brought her in front of the woman within a few steps and she slowly reached out and wrapped her hands around the small container, staring at the Iliamna bakeri. A one of a kind flower that grew shortly after forest fires and took a considerable amount of attention to keep alive and growing.

"Thank you, though I… should be going now. I'm already a bit behind schedule," Scarlet made her way to the door before being stopped by the woman's questioning voice.

"And where are you going to go, young lady? It's past eight and I know you can't even afford a run down motel… why not stay the night here?" It was a considerable request, of course, and in a way, even if Scarlet refused, she wouldn't be leaving that night anyways.

She bit her lip in contemplation before giving a slow answer, "I really shouldn't… I'd just be taking up space you could be using for something else."

"Nonsense! You're staying here tonight, and you aren't getting out of it. Think of it as your way of paying us back for burning one of my most expensive pieces," at that point the younger woman just took a deep breath and looked back at her.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she may have acted dismissive but it meant more to her than anything else she had heard through the past year. No one had shown her that much compassion since then…

* * *

The rest of the evening passed slowly for Scarlet. Everybody else headed upstairs as Dahlia let her know that "dinner would be done soon" while she decided to stay downstairs in the closed and darkened flower shop.

In truth, Scarlet didn't quite know what to do around them, or people in general. Outside of very sparse opportunities with her mother to go out to nearby villages she hadn't really interacted with other people as a child. And of course since Cinder's death, she hadn't been spending much time within the cities or really anywhere where people might be in bulk. Of course she visited towns and would come across travelers and the occasional Huntsman while on her travels but that didn't mean she conversed or traveled with them.

The only person she had ever really talked to besides her mother, was Dahlia. The woman had approached while Scarlet was aimlessly wandering around the streets, looking for a place to stay. Originally Scarlet made to flee but when the strange lady pulled a loaf of bread out from her bag she decided it might be best to stay, who would deny free food, especially when their state of hunger was rising much faster than it should. Of course she was suspicious of her, Cinder had once told her that "nothing comes without a price, when someone offers you something that's 'free' then they want something in return."

So after that encounter Scarlet decided to hang around the woman, help her carry her bags and shop around the district. It's never a good idea to be in debt to someone you don't know, after all. And then that was when the woman led her to her flower shop, _The Bouquet's Boutique_ ; a small and not very popular store. It was more so directed to the upper district and rings of Mistral, the rich and engaged looking for an exquisitely beautiful bouquet to set up at their wedding.

Despite all that though, the mother and daughter seemed happy with their business, always a bright smile lighting up both of their faces when the bell hanging above rang and a customer walked through. One could argue that they were just putting on a fake smile to appease the customers into buying something, but they weren't. They were always happy to please, for some reason.

That night, Dahlia gave Scarlet a choice: stay around for awhile or she can continue wandering around. And while the choice would have been obvious to most people, to Scarlet it was a dilemma. Nobody had ever offered such hospitality to her before without a price. On one hand, winter was approaching; but on the other, it was a bad decision to stay in the city. Cinder had always said that Hunters and the Councils would always be on the lookout for rogue aura and dust users. Especially ones birthed from the previously most wanted criminal in Remnant.

Despite all of that though she decided to stay, she promised herself it would just be for a night. But one turned to two and before she knew it days turned to weeks. She practically became a worker there, in the mornings she would organize and clean off all the tables and sweep the floors and during the nights she would sleep on the roof of their small, two story building.

Much of that changed though, almost exactly a month after Scarlet had been staying around. The day started off normally enough, other than her sleeping in for a bit. She began her work late after lunch and when Jasmine decided to work the register.

The day was enjoyable enough, many customers came in which meant Scarlet could fall into a steady work flow and not bother thinking about any of the living nightmares that had been plaguing her life.

Though, progressively, the day strayed off from its normal path. Generally customers had an idea of what they wanted to purchase before they came into the store, whether that be seeds, flowers, or some other kind of plant. But there was a certain customer that had been there for many hours by the time things escalated.

He was searching the stock near where the front desk was when he suddenly pulled a long dagger from behind his shirt and began frothing at the mouth. Spittle flew out as he attempted to speak but only jumbled up words came out.

"Filthy Angel…"

"Fires…"

"Ash… nothing…"

"All gone!"

Jasmine was frozen in place, a strong look of surprise marred her face as her mouth hung open but no words came out. Everyone and everything froze in its place as the small bell above the door jingled and three heads whipped towards the new sound. Bags of groceries and bottles of water crashed against the ground when Dahlia stepped through the door.

Before anyone could react further, he broke from his stupor and charged towards Dahlia like a newly created boarbatusk. With all abandon and no regard for his own life, his body fell onto Dahlia's while his knife pressed against her stomach before slowly beginning to slide into her.

Before it could go any further than a centimeter strong hands gripped the back of his tunic and threw him towards the back of the store. Slowly, he got up and glared at Scarlet with anger in his eyes.

"It's all your fault, you fiery bitch of a Faunus! I'm going to make you suffer like you made me!" And with that he quickly turned around and began to charge towards where Jasmine was standing.

"No!" Before she knew what she was doing, Scarlet had already reached out and a stream of fire and molten lava shot forward and into the man. It hadn't lasted for more than a few seconds, but as the fire faded all that was left behind Jasmine was an unrecognizable, charred corpse. That, along with a hideous burn along the side of Jasmine's face. Bright red clashed against her pale skin and part of her forest green hair was gone with the edges burnt black.

"I'm so sorry…" and with that, Scarlet was gone.

* * *

It was a bitter memory that always came with a grain of salt when it resurfaced. At the time, leaving immediately was the best option she could come up with, if she was gone then they wouldn't be in any danger. Scarlet was a walking target for anything dangerous. People from her past could resurface without a moment's notice and she didn't need anyone else getting hurt because of her foolish mistakes. _Especially_ not people she cared about, even if it was mostly because they provided a use to her. The Bouquet's Boutique was the only place she could receive the Iliamna bakeri, unless she decided to endlessly search the the forests where villages used to stand but now only dunes rolled.

Her head snapped up from where it was gazing at the flowers in front of her and began looking towards where the stairs creaked and Dahlia stepped down them.

"Ah… Hello Dahlia, how are things up there?"

"Peaceful. Jasmine and Lily have just been talking on the couch while I've been cooking dinner, though it would have been nice to have someone to talk to while I worked. What have you been doing down here?"

"Just thinking… I suppose. Reminiscing, if you could call it that."

"Are you really still moping around about that? Sure, Jasmine was shaken up but in the end, what matters is that you saved us."

"Did I really though, if I was the reason you were almost killed in the first place?"

"Does that matter, really? Say I got poisoned from a flower but that same flower's properties ended up making a treatment. Did the flower save me?" It was a hypothetical question, but as the lull in conversation grew larger, and Dahlia glared at Scarlet, it became apparent that an answer was expected.

"Yes… it saved you."

"See, that wasn't so hard was it? Now, dinner is ready, and has been getting cold while we've talked. And I'm sure Jasmine and Lily are growing impatient."

With that, Dahlia turned around and left Scarlet to follow her up the stairs, to where the family of two lived. Their upstairs was a cozy place, the mostly used burn Dust made their lighting effect be dimmer and made their overall housing area feel welcoming. Furniture was set up so that their small living space looked large enough to hold a small family of three; although much of the interior was littered with cords to scrolls or just other small things.

"This kind of makes me miss living here, with how… home-like it is…"

"You could always… come back, you know?" Scarlet wouldn't have been surprised if it was Dahlia who had spoken up, after all, the woman had just been telling her the exact same thing a few moments ago. But the voice that spoke was noticeably higher pitched —younger— than the mother's. She looked towards the younger girl with wide eyes as Jasmine looked down towards the wooden flooring that covered the majority of their mixed-use building.

A pained look passed across Scarlet's face before she quickly looked away and began to head towards the kitchen, "why don't we have dinner, I'm sure you and Lily are hungry."

She was too busy facing away from the green haired woman to see the sad look enter her eyes as they all headed towards the dining table.

* * *

Food covered silverware clanked against the glass plates. Most conversation had slowed to a near complete stop as they all slowly ate their food. Occasional words were shared between Lily and Jasmine but other than that the room was mostly silent, save for the occasional screech as a utensil scraped against a plate at an odd angle. Lily seemed persistent to get any bit of information out of Scarlet she could, though.

"So, Scarlet, what exactly do you do for a living? You seem to wear armor, so are you in the MPD or special forces?"

A quick pause followed the question as Scarlet looked up from her plate towards Lily in surprise before regaining her composure, "I suppose… you could say I'm a Huntress."

Evidently that wasn't something the other girl expected to hear—especially with the disdain Scarlet had said it with—as her silverware went clattering onto her plate, "oh, what academy did you go to?"

An almost unnoticeable glance was sent Dahlia's way, amber and viridian eyes catching lavender until she sent a nod Scarlet's way.

"I never went to one," a quick and simple response. Short enough to give the information needed but not long enough to continue the conversation with, it could only lead to unanswerable questions.

"So you're saying you were just good enough to take the Huntsman Exam and pass? I've never heard of someone doing that before…"

Scarlet's fingers slowly tightened and unwound around the fork resting in her hand, small amounts of red creeping up through the metal and the slight scent of smoke entering the air. Most likely, nobody else had caught on to it yet, Scarlet's Faunus senses far out performing her company's.

"Honestly, thank you Dahlia for the offer, but I'm realizing that I really should be going. As I said to Jasmine, I'm already far behind schedule and I need to return home before the Iliamna begins to wither; I wouldn't want to put something like that up there, my mother would surely be disappointed." A small, hesitant smile flashed across Scarlet's face as she muttered the words, slowly standing up and delicately setting the cherry red fork down.

"Oh, and Jasmine?" the other girl quickly snapped her head up from where it was looking down at her plate, all while Scarlet game another smile "I hope your burns are healing well… and since I am forever in your debt, if you ever need me, go south."

 _And with that, she left her company all in varying states of thought and with many emotions running rampant through their minds._

AN: ONTO SOME VERY GOOD NEWS THOUGH! I've finally settled on a writing schedule. I will be doing a minimum of 100 words every day, no matter what! And I will give myself a time frame of 3 days to fully edit and post the chapter. So it will ultimately decide on how long the chapter is, but the max time an update should take is 2 months, 1 month/25 days minimum.

Thank you all for reading and please leave a review to let me know how you liked it!


	3. Past Burns

AN: Hellooo... readers, my peeps... don't kill me? Anyways, this too a bit longer than expected, as usual (I actually had this finished for awhile not but have been too busy and/or lazy to submit and edit it). A little short but I'm beginning to work on the next chapter straight away. Enjoy!

 _Chapter 1 - Past Burns_

 **Southern Peninsula, Anima**

 **1100, 90 AW**

 **Sometime During the 2** **nd** **Month of Winter**

" _Scarlet, would you come here for a second sweetie?" Silky smooth, Cinder's voice drifted towards the child currently preoccupied with a small play dagger, disassembling it and quietly peering at each and every nook and cranny._

 _She slowly stood up and bided by her mother's command, sending a few longing glances back towards the object that was within her prying grasp. "Don't worry, you can go back to playing in just a moment, I just… wanted to speak with you."_

 _She perked up right away, sending a bright smile her mother's way, "okay! What is it mom? Another training regime?"_

" _No no, nothing like that. A mother can't just talk with her daughter?" With that, the small girl jumped up and ran over to the couch, flying onto it next to her mother and sliding a bit closer, reveling in her warmth._

 _Cinder had always given off a fiery sensation. Silverware would begin to turn red if she held it too long and any water she spent time in would eventually begin to evaporate; despite all of that though, whenever Scarlet nuzzled up to her mother, all that greeted her was a feeling akin to drinking a perfectly heated cup of hot chocolate. And she_ loved _it, nothing would ever beat the feeling of being able to curl up against her mother's side and just sink into her warmth. Nothing._

 _It could be said that Scarlet was just used to the heat, and it was actually just as hot as normal but when she had asked her mother about it, all she had done was smile and act as if it was never asked._

" _You're cute, my little spark, you know that?" The older woman just laughed as Scarlet pushed herself even more against her mother's side, it was rare to get compliments like that after all._

" _Did you ever wonder where Mama came from?" It was a sudden question, and caught the small child off guard. Where her mom came from? Well they've been living there their whole life, so it was here of course!_

" _I don't know, it's not something I thought about? Are you going to tell me a story though?" the small girl began vibrating against her mother's side._

" _ **I suppose you could call it that, though… let's go back a few decades. To where everything started…"**_

* * *

 _Around 8 Years Later - Present Time_

"It's weird, to think that I never noticed how tense you were when you told me stories about yourself. Back then I surely would've asked why, now I suppose I'll never know though," a lull in the one sided conversation crept up on Scarlet as the slowly cooling breeze drifted past and swept the leaves away along with it.

"Was it because you thought I would think less of you? That I might run away and leave you behind, simply because of things you did in the past? You knew I would never do that… right? Or did you die thinking, all this time, that at the drop of a coin I'd run away and cease to be?" The wind bit at her moistened eyes as she stared down at the two pots of Iliamna bakeri. Two years. Two visits to Mistral. Two settlements gone, two mountains of ash that had maybe drifted off in the breeze by now. Two years without her.

"Everything is so different than what I thought it would be. The city is different, the very aura that society gives off is so much more crushing than I could have ever prepared for. And the people especially. I… don't understand them at all. Some have gone so far as to sacrifice their own to the beasts we have fought for eternity, yet others have done nothing but help me with no return for them."

"I realize now, truly—I think—that I know nothing of the real world. And that I could have never been prepared for it in the first place. Thank you, though, for trying… mom." Her cheeks continued to become wetter and wetter as she continued talking. Nobody ever answered.

Hiccups wracked her body causing her shoulders to tremble. Her knees began to shake, barely holding onto the strength to support her weight, until eventually, she collapsed. Hiccups turned into more sobs and soon into screams and cries.

Nothing could have prepared her for this, and so, with no more tears to shed, she slept.

* * *

 _Tring!_

The small bell above the glass, pollen covered door gave a small trill as yet another customer entered that day. Another customer, another sigh.

"Welcome to the Bouquet's Boutique, how may we help you today?" A smile just bright enough to please a customer but not wide enough to strain the face: the Retail Smile.

"Well, I'd like to ask about a certain customer of yours… though I don't know her name." A slightly smaller than average woman walked up to the counter while speaking, combat skirt alongside a cloak threatening to knock down any precariously placed pots. Long, crimson tipped hair tied back in a ponytail swayed back and forth, reaching the woman's waist where a large, red box rested.

"Could I maybe describe them to you?" Inquisitive silver eyes peered into Jasmine's laverdar ones.

"I'm sorry, but we aren't allowed to give out any information about customers unless there's an investigation. Are there any flowers you would like to buy? Maybe pots to put some in too?"

"Yes, it's an investigation. She is believed to have commited mass genocide."

Jasmine's eyes widened considerably before stuttering out a curt reply, "oh, how… how may I help you?"

"Yes, you should do that. Anyways, I will get onto business by describing her. She has very dark hair, either black or purple; her exact skin tone is unknown though it is speculated to be lightly tanned by the hot and humid weather here in Mistral. This woman is a feline Faunus of unknown origins, though her ear structure is distinctly Vacuan; her eyes are heterochromatic, the left is an orangish amber and the right is green. Unknown height, thought to be around five-five and five-eight, maybe shorter or maybe taller. Age of early twenties, most likely twenty two or twenty three. Do you know of any customers that fit that description."

"Well," Jasmine attempted to swallow a lump forming at the base of her throat, threatening to suffocate her, "there is one customer that fits that general description. You just missed her about two weeks ago…"

The crimson donned woman drew closer until there was around a foot between the two, "and? Where is she?"

"I don't know, she left in a hurry afte-," Jasmine choked on the growing pressure in her chest, breaths getting smaller and smaller as she went on," well, after something happened at dinner."

"You're telling me you _dined_ with her!" The cloaked woman's voice grew angrier with each syllable as she shouted at the rapidly respiring lady in front of her.

That seemed to be the last straw for the younger, lavender eyed girl as she collapsed against the table the register sat on, sobbing into her arms while her body shook, "I-I- I didn't know! She, she was always so nice to us!"

The older woman at least had the decency to look ashamed for making her cry before bending down and asking a little differently, "I'm sorry, I really am, but do you at least know where to find her. Any particular time she's around or any place she might be?"

"You- You'd have to wait at least ano- another year for her to come back here again. But… she- she said if I ever needed her, for any reason, then I should go south…"

"Thank you," the cloaked woman began to turn to leave but stopped short, "and I'm sorry. That you had to go through all," she gestured around the whole room, "this."

Before she could leave through the door, Jasmine looked up at her, red surrounding her lavender eyes, "you're not going to… kill her or anything like that, are you?"

She looked surprised for a moment before her expression softened by a marginal amount, "no, nothing like that. It's just, an important person needs… to talk to her."

"Then you have to let me come!" She hadn't meant for her voice to rise so loudly, it quieted down before she continued with her request, "you know… to apologize, for everything. She might be a ki-, what you say she is, but she was still important to my mom and to me… please?"

Grey eyes lost focus as they bore into the woman before her, emotions and memories flooded through the walls she had put up long ago. Hesitation and logic battled with emotion as she thought of the consequences before deciding with a shake of her head to dispel her invading past.

"I am leaving tonight, if I come back here and you are not ready then you will not be seeing your… friend again, for a long, long time."

* * *

Dahlia came home to find the store closed and Jasmine sitting on the couch upstairs, a bag stuffed with clothes sitting next to her; Lily came in behind her, looking at Jasmine with worried eyes and a small frown marring her features.

"Jasmine, honey, is everything okay?" It wasn't Dahlia, who's mouth hung limply with chapped lips. Instead, it was the blonde, blue eyed beauty.

"Yes… yeah, everything's fine. I'm just, going on a short trip," Jasmine's voice was hoarse, slightly puffed eyes looked up at Lily, "I need to go find Scarlet, is all."

"So, what, you're just going to leave us! You're mom? Me…? Who cares about her anyways! She scarred you, permanently, and yet you still want to help her? I thought- I thought you loved me?" The last part, contrary to the rest of her statements, was quiet. A fan in a hurricane.

Jasmine stood up, abruptly, shins shooting into the small and low table in front of the couch causing it to shoot forwards a few centimeters, "I do love you Lily, and I love my mother more than anything. You two are all I have left, but I need to see her, one last time."

"What do you mean one last time? Why are you so scared about some "huntress" that demands you leave the only two important people in your life!"

"I'm scared because, it feels like if I don't see her as soon as possible then I'll never see her again…"

Before anyone else could speak up, the bell above the door chose to signal the arrival of someone.

"Hey, girl! You have thirty seconds to come down here before I leave without you!"

Jasmine's face morphed into a cringe before talking two large strides towards Lily, placing a small and delicate kiss to her forehead, "I love you Lily, I really do, but I can't leave Scarlet alone to deal with this."

Small, more hesitant steps brought her forward to greet her mother. Neither knew what to do as they stood a foot apart, fingers interlocking with themselves and feet shuffling. That was before Dahlia burst forward to catch her in an embrace, "you're kind of like you're father, you know."

"Ten!"

"How? You know I'll come back… he never did."

"Seven!"

"You're looking for an adventure, I just hope you find what you're looking for along the way."

"Five!"

"This isn't an adventure, you know? I'll only be gone for hopefully, at most, two weeks."

"I know… Go on, before she leaves you behind. It certainly sounds like she will," and with that, Dahlia pivoted with Jasmine still held in her arms, and gently pushed her towards the staircase.

 _The backpack she had slipped on before, simply full of clothes, had never felt so heavy._

* * *

AN: Alrighty-o, things are finally beginning to progress and they will get even faster in the next chapter, might slow down a little bit after that one though. As usual, please review to tell me what you think and follow if you want to be updated on when I update again!

I have a Discord server that you can join also to get updates on where I am in the chapter or why/if I'm not writing it, the invite code is: 9TWJ5kr


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